Hyssop

Jewish priests used strong-smelling hyssop 2,500 years ago to clean the temple in Jerusalem and other places of worship.  The Greeks adopted it, and the physician Dioscorides prescribed the herb in tea for cough, wheezing, and shortness of breath, in platesters and chest rubs, and as an aromatic nasal and chest decongestant.

The German abbess/herbalist Hildegard of Bingen wrote hyssop "cleanses the lungs."  She also recommended a meal of chicken cooked in hyssop and wine as a treatment for "sadness"

Seventeenth-century English herbalist Nicholas Culpeper echoed Dioscorides' endorsement of hyssop for chest ailments: "It expelleth tough phlegm and is effectual for all griefs of the chest and lungs."  Boiled with figs it makes an excellent gargle for quinsey (tonsillitis)...Boiled in wine, it is good to wash inflammations.

Colonists introduced hyssop into North America and continued using it to treat chest congestions.  Hyssop also developed a reputation as a menstruation promoter and as a means to induce abortions. (It wont do either.)

But as time passed hyssop's popularity waned.  America's 19th century Eclectics prescribed it externally to relieve the pain of bruises, and internally as a gargle for sore throat and tonsillitis and as a treatment for asthma and coughing.

Contemporary herbalists recommend hyssop compresses and poultices for bruises, burns, and wounds, and an infusion for colds, coughs, bronchitis, flatulence, indigestion, menstruation promotion, and even epileptic seizures.  Some herbalists point to the fact that the microorganism that produces penicillin grows on hyssop leaves as proof of its effectiveness for wounds and chest infections.

Hyssop oil contains several soothing camphor like constituents and one expectorant chemical (marrubiin), which loosens phlegm so it can be coughed up more easily.  Scientific sources agree it's a "reasonably effective" treatment for the cough and respiratory irritation of colds and flu.

To make a compress, use 1 ounce of dried herb per pint of boiling water.  Steep 15 minutes and cool.  Soak a clean cloth in the infusion and apply to cold sores and genital herpes as needed.

For an infusion, use 2 teaspoons of herb per cup of boiling water.  Steep 10 minutes. Drink up to 3 cups a day to treat cough.  Hyssop has a strong, camphor like smell and tastes bitter.  Add sugar, honey, or lemon, or mix it with an herbal beverage blend to improve flavor.